Sirah
The Siege of Ta'if
The walled highland town of Ta'if, Shawwal-Dhul-Qa'dah 8 AH
8 AH / 630 CE
Educational historical reconstructionWhere
Ta'if, in the cooler highlands south-east of Makkah
21.2703, 40.4158 · View on OpenStreetMap
Background
After routing the Hawazin and Thaqif at Hunayn in Shawwal of the eighth year after the Hijra (630 CE), the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) pursued the survivors of Thaqif to their fortified town of Ta'if, in the cooler, orchard-rich highlands south-east of Makkah. The Thaqif had shut themselves behind the town's wall with provisions for a long blockade. The Sirah of Ibn Ishaq and al-Waqidi's Maghazi record a siege of some weeks: the besiegers cut and burned the famed vineyards outside the walls to pressure the defenders, and, by the tradition for the first time in the Muslim campaigns, deployed a mangonel (manjaniq) and a covered assault shelter (dabbaba) to approach the wall, while the defenders' archery inflicted losses. The town did not fall; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) lifted the siege and withdrew, distributing the Hunayn spoils at al-Ji'rana on the way back. The decision proved sound: the following year (9 AH), with the surrounding region now Muslim and their isolation complete, a delegation of Thaqif came to Madinah and accepted Islam, and the idol of al-Lat at Ta'if was destroyed. The siege of Ta'if thus marks the last armed resistance of the Hijaz before its submission came peacefully. This scene depicts the walled highland town under blockade, the shut gates, the besieging lines, the mangonel and shelter, the orchards beyond the wall, in the Sirah tier, with no identifiable figures and no graphic violence. It is distinct from the Prophet's earlier, painful visit to Ta'if in 619 CE, when he came seeking support and was rejected.
What you see
A walled town on high, relatively green ground in the mountains south-east of Makkah, cooler uplands of orchards and gardens, not the bare valley of the Hijaz lowlands. Ta'if's altitude and fertility are part of its identity.
A continuous defensive wall encloses the town, gates shut fast. The besieged Thaqif, who fell back here after Hunayn, are holding a fortified place stocked for a long blockade, the scene is a sealed town, not an open battlefield.
Vineyards and fruit gardens spread outside the walls, Ta'if was famed for its grapes, some of them being cut or trampled in the pressure of the siege, a detail the maghazi reports record.
A mangonel (manjaniq) stands in the siege lines, by the tradition the first time the besiegers used such a stone-throwing engine; nearby a covered assault shelter (dabbaba / testudo of hides) for approaching the wall under cover.
The besiegers' camp rings the town at a wary distance, the defenders' archery from the walls keeping them back. After some weeks the blockade is lifted without taking the town, the scene is a costly, unresolved siege, not a storming.
The high mountain setting and the orchards rule out a coastal or lowland site; behind, the road descends north-west toward Makkah and the valley of Hunayn from which the army has just come.
Though the town did not fall to the siege, the Thaqif would come the following year (9 AH) as a delegation to Madinah and accept Islam, so the scene marks the last hard resistance of the Hijaz before its peaceful submission.
Primary sources
Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya (Ibn Ishaq recension): The pursuit of Thaqif to Ta'if, the siege, the cutting of the vineyards, the engines, and the lifting of the blockade. Primary Sunni narrative.
al-Waqidi, Kitab al-Maghazi (early 9th c.): Detailed maghazi account of the siege of Ta'if, the manjaniq and dabbaba, and the duration; used with caution on specifics but the standard source for the siege detail.
Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Maghazi: Reports bearing on the Ta'if expedition and the withdrawal, and the later acceptance of Islam by Thaqif. Corroborating Sunni frame.
al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa-al-Muluk (9th-10th c.): Sunni historical synthesis of the year 8 AH: Hunayn, Ta'if, and al-Ji'rana in sequence.
Further reading & cross-references
Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, al-Rahiq al-Makhtum (20th c.): Modern Sunni synthesis for the chronology of the siege and the Thaqif delegation of 9 AH.
Topography of Ta'if (extant city): The highland setting, altitude, and historic reputation for vineyards and gardens are well attested; the old town's defensible position is the material anchor. The historic wall is long gone beneath the modern city, so architecture is reconstructive.
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